General Preservation Assessment of the Archival Collections of the Sisters of Loretto

FAIN: PG-252856-17

Sisters Of Loretto At The Foot Of The Cross (Nerinx, KY 40049-9998)
Eleanor Elizabeth Craig (Project Director: May 2016 to June 2019)

A preservation assessment for the Loretto Heritage Center’s archives and a training workshop on collections care for local cultural heritage institutions. The archives represent over 200 years of educational, social, and spiritual efforts of the Sisters of Loretto, a Catholic congregation founded in 1812. The collection consists of about 900 linear feet of paper documents, 300 books, over 3,000 artifacts and art works, photographs, and audiovisual media. Archival records include administrative documents, materials on slavery, and documents chronicling the history of the school maintained by the order.

The Sisters of Loretto Heritage Center preserves, displays and makes accessible to the public the documents, audio-visual media and artifacts that document 200 years of Loretto education in the US and abroad. The Heritage Center will contract with the Northeast Document Conservation Center for a preservation assessment of its archival collections, followed by a training workshop on preservation for Loretto and four other archives. The half-day site visit will yield a written report of observations and recommendations, identifying short-, mid-, and long-term preservation priorities for Loretto, along with guidance on implementing a long-range preservation plan. The 3-hour training workshop will focus on handling and storage for collections, particularly fragile bound volumes, collection management and processing standards, and disaster preparedness. This assessment begins a long-range preservation program which will allow responsible programming for greater public access.